Jury Selection May Be Done Today in Walmart Hit-and-Run Trial

By Joe Hyde | Nov. 13, 2017 3:36 pm

SAN ANGELO, TX — Tom Williams, defense attorney for James Olon Rosson, and Assistant DA Richard Villarreal are taking more time than anticipated vetting the jury panel for the trial of the Walmart hit-and-run.

Over 50 potential jurors are still in the pool. Judge Ben Woodward hopes to cull that to 36 by 3:30 p.m. and seat a jury of 12 with alternates by the end of the day.

Williams is asking many questions of the potential jurors about whether intent is required to define a crime committed. In the original complaint, Rosson told police he only intended to scare the victim, not hit them with his vehicle. Williams appears to be, at least in part, relying on a defense based upon lack of intent, making the incident an accident, not an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Rosseon is accused of mowing down Ernest Ortiz in the Walmart parking lot on S. Bryant Blvd. with his vehicle. Walmart security cameras caught the entire incident on recorded video.

He is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, his vehicle.